The past two weeks brought some notable progress for the industry, though it still often feels like “regulation by lack of enforcement” rather than a truly proactive approach. The SEC clarified that most proof-of-work mining...more
3/28/2025
/ CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
FinCEN ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Ripple ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins
Three of the SEC’s key enforcement actions—all extensively covered in BitBlog and widely seen as emblematic of the agency’s adversarial stance toward the industry—are reportedly being halted or dismissed. The SEC has agreed...more
2/27/2025
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Coinbase ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Dismissals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinTech ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
The first weeks of February have been eventful for digital asset regulation, with major policy shifts, legal battles and legislative initiatives shaping the future of Web3. The SEC’s formation of a dedicated crypto rulemaking...more
It’s fitting that our second October Web3 legal update arrives on Halloween, as many in the industry might find the current legal landscape for digital asset products and services quite spooky. While the past few weeks have...more
11/1/2024
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Coinbase ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Ethereum ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FOIA ,
Internet ,
Metaverse ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
The last two weeks have seen a flurry of Congressional hearings addressing key digital asset issues, alongside several noteworthy consent judgments against industry participants from the SEC. These fast-paced developments are...more
In the last few weeks, decisions by regulatory agencies and courts overseeing cryptocurrency disputes have dominated the Web3 legal news. This can be expected to continue, even as Congress comes back from its August break, as...more
While the nation was preoccupied with the significant developments in the Presidential race, advocates and promoters of the blockchain ecosystem were particularly attentive to the news, given the perception that the current...more
7/25/2024
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
ETFs ,
Ether ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
Presidential Elections ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Notice
It was a busy two weeks in Web3 law, as Binance lost in an appeal that could have wide-ranging jurisdictional implications outside of just digital assets. Coinbase also went on the offensive against the SEC in appealing the...more
3/29/2024
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Coinbase ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Copyright Office ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jurisdiction ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
USPTO
The Blockchain Bi-Weekly presented by the Polsinelli Blockchain+ team is a rundown of some of the key stories in the Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems curated by our attorneys navigating the intersections of code, smart...more
9/21/2023
/ Blockchain ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Ethereum ,
IOSCO ,
Listing Rules ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On September 15, 2022, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (the “Ag. Committee”) held a hearing to discuss Senate Bill 4760, titled the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022 (the “Bill”)...more
9/19/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Ethereum ,
Financial Instruments ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins
On January 3, 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced an order against and settlement with Polymarket, a blockchain-enabled prediction market that allows users to “bet” on the occurrence of certain...more
With the world slowly coming out of the COVID-19 lock down and the economy hopefully on the path to recovery there have been many developments in the blockchain / crypto space over the last few weeks....more
5/19/2020
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
FinTech ,
Fraudulent Investment ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Stock Exchange ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
The CFTC recently filed a multi-million dollar fraud action charging three individuals and three companies with fraudulently soliciting tens of millions of customers and prospective customers to open and fund off-exchange...more
While the world at large shelters in place due to COVID-19 legal and regulatory activity of digital asset and the blockchain world is hopping. ...more
4/23/2020
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Instruments ,
Form CRS ,
FSB ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Fraud ,
Regulation BI ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
Strikeout for Bitcoin ETF -
Another ETF bites the dust. On February 26th the SEC rejected the application of NYSE Acre for the approval of an exchange traded fund sponsored by the New York firm of Wilshire Phoenix to...more
3/4/2020
/ Bitcoin ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
Celebrity Endorsements ,
CFTC ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commodities ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Transactions ,
GAO ,
Influencers ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Transfer ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
Digital assets and Blockchain technologies which were once described as the tools of criminals, are now a key part of efforts by traditional financial services firms to transform their businesses and innovative firms looking...more
1/3/2020
/ Accredited Investors ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Martin Act ,
No-Action Letters ,
Offerings ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sanctions ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Regulation ,
Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
Transparency ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
This BitBlog summary focuses on the continuing actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) against the issuers of noncompliant initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) and other crypto related transactions including...more
10/29/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Default Judgment ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Ether ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Fund Managers ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Regulation A ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
This week’s summary includes updates on anti-money laundering in the crypto-friendly nation of Malta and a proposal to regulate cryptocurrency miners in the United States to help stop human trafficking....more
9/18/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
France ,
Gold ,
Human Trafficking ,
IMF ,
International Finance ,
Malta ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Startups ,
Strategic Planning ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency